Not a good shot, because I caught it, and then only barely, through the window yesterday. But we have a leucistic dove here now, the only one we've ever seen. A season of strange gifts, indeed.
Speaking of which, we finally have a lockdown coming, albeit not until tomorrow. And the governor, solidly in the grip of fear of various lobbies and Republicans generally, has scheduled it for only two weeks, which is absurd, because that won't even put a dent in it. She also has, remarkably, NOT renewed the full mandatory minimum 14-day quarantine for everyone coming into the state from outside, and until that happens, this spike will not be arrested. I warned of this in May and June and was told to shut up, to stop being negative. It gives me no pleasure, but a great deal of rage, not only to have been proven right on all counts but to find out now that there are 32 positives at the Living Center thus far in November alone (the low-income long-t4erm care facility, small and crowded, where Wings has an elder relative), as well as 13 tribal members, with another 35 fully quarantined because of contact. And I hold her, as well as the idiots who would rather see us dead than do one right thing, responsible. Meanwhile, we will spend this weekend, and far too much money, stocking up again for the long haul on supplies, and return to the isolation we have practiced for, as of today 242 days straight already. Fires everywhere, indeed.
And we have to put them out. So, yes, I'm going to keep flogging this post, which I put up here night before last. This is our doctor's practice; they got certified as a nonprofit community health center a good while back, and they treat a large percentage of marginalized and underserved patients, especially those economically marginalized. Wednesday night, I got an e-mail announcing that some generous and anonymous soul had stepped forward to offer $25,000 in matching funds . . . IF they could raise $25,000 in cash donations by December 1st. In fewer than twenty days . Despite all the free-floating colonizer money around here, it's a lot harder than it should be to raise that kind of scratch here. And so the moment I got the message, we gave $100 (which we were able to do thanks to my Ko-fi account, linked below, and that fact that folks had contributed just over $100 the night before, apparently to keep my work running state-wide pandemic numbers going nightly). If you can match it, or any part of it, please do: If they raise the $25K in time, they will have $50,000 that they have committed to putting DIRECTLY to essential primary care for their most underserved patients. [To be clear: This doesn't benefit us, except indirectly insofar as it keeps our doctor's office open and staffed; we pay cash on the barrelhead for our care. But it will save other lives, and in a place and time where very few care, this matters.]
Our doctor saved both our lives. Their staff are exceptional. They are putting their own lives at risk daily, on the front lines of a pandemic in a place where the "leadership" refuses to lead and refuses to take the necessary steps to arrest the deadly spike we're currently experiencing. They are keeping people alive now. They deserve everyone's support. Go here.
And as I said earlier, we received some very good news last Wednesday, so I'm no longer worrying about covering the regular November expenses. It's what allowed us to arrange for the firewood. We'll be able to cover the hay for the horses, and possibly get the plumbing handled in the next few week or thereafter. But . . . BUT.
As grateful as we are for our current blessings, we also know that real winter hasn't even arrived yet, and it will be a long one. Cases continue to spike state-wide and locally both, with a record 23 deaths across the state last Thursday; a record official new-case total of 1,418 on Monday (the day before yesterday); a new record locally Saturday, on a day this is by definition an undercount, with 21 reported new cases and one new death. Among the new cases locally are one or more at IHS, and apparently the clinic is NOT closed even though staffers are supposedly quarantined, and how does that work, exactly? There has been zero movement on the steps that MUST be taken to arrest this, and ski season opens in less than three weeks. If they allow tourists in, unquarantined, our local numbers are going to be deadly indeed. Meanwhile, the economy is wrecked already, and the number of people who need help climbs by the day.
This is all by way of saying that, blessings or no, I have still got to make consistent sales somehow, through the end of the year and beyond. In more ordinary years (long since gone now), our holiday sales alone carried us through the winter, the late winter/spring closure, and on toward summer. Those days are gone, and the closure is already here (and if not permanent, it's the next thing to it). We will still need to sell Wings's work regularly to make it. So please share the links, and if/when you're in the market for gorgeous, authentic, Spirit-infused Indigenous wearable art, Wings will have something perfect for you. The links are here:
Thanks.
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
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